Cotton-chopper.



D. B. PULTZ.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLIGATION FILED 11211.23, 1914.

1 13, 5. Patented Mar. 30, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR flfll llli'z A TORNEYS 'VHE NORRIS FETEHS CPL, PHOTOJJTHQ. WASHINGTON D, C.

.D. B. FULT Z.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED APE.23, 1914.

' 1,133,553, Patented M21130, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

mum!

minim INVENTOR TORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTC'LITHO. WASHING TON. D C

DECK B. FULTZ, OF BARRY, TEXAS.

COTTON-CHOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1915..

Application filed April 23, 1914. Serial No. 833,851.

To all v.07: 0 m it may concern:

Be it known that I, DECK B. FUL'rz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Barry, in the county of Navarro and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Choppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in cotton choppers, and my object is to provide a cotton chopper having its cutting member mounted and actuated in a novel and eflicient manner.

-1 further object is to provide a variable speed transmission mechanism to actuate the cutting member, and to provide a lever mechanism by which the blade of the cutting member may be adjusted vertically.

A still further object of the inventlon is to provide a device of the character described that will be strong, durable, efficient and simple and comparatively inexpensive to produce, also one in which the several parts will not be likely to get out of working order.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention has relation to certain novel features of construction and operation, an example of which is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of my novel cotton chopper. Fig. 2 is a view of the same in side elevation, the near wheel being omitted in this view. Fig. 3 is a front View of the machine. Fig. lis a sectional detail view showing the cutting member and manner of mounting the same. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail showing another portion of said member, the section being taken upon the line g y of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail View of the transmission gearing. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the same, the section being taken upon the line e-e of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective showing a portion of the transmission mechanism which actuates the cutting member.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate similar parts in all the figures, the numeral 1 denotes the axle of my cotton chopper, and 2 the transporting wheels, said parts being connected in a rigid relation. Between the wheels, there are secured to the axle the down-turned extremities 3 of a pair of forwardly projecting parallel bars 4 which have their front end portions projecting oppositely toward each other and rigidly connected with the rear end of the tongue 5, Some distance forward of its rear end, the tongue is also rigidly engaged between the ends of a pair of bars 6, which are extended laterally a certain distance and then bent rearwardly in a parallel relation, their rear ends being secured to the lower extremities of the members 3. To the forward portion of the right hand bar 6, there is secured a pair of spaced bearings 7, in which the forward portion of a crank-shaft 8 is journaled, and a bearing 9 secured to the same bar receives the rear portion of said shaft. Between the two bearings 7, the shaft 8 is formed with a crank 10, the wrist of which engages the upper end of a hoe handle 11, passing through a metallic collar 12 fast upon said handle. The handle 11 is extended laterally at an inclination toward the ground, and is provided upon its lower end with an ordinary hoe blade 13, removably connected with the hoe handle. Substantially at its middle, there is mounted fast upon the handle 11 another collar 1 1, through which is passed the wrist 10 of a'crank 15, formed in a short crank shaft 16 parallel to the shaft 8. The extremities of the shaft 16 are provided with bearings formed by the lower ends of a pair of bars 17, the upper ends of which are pivoted upon the shaft 8 at each side of the crank 10. Upon the front ends of the two shafts 8 and 16, there are formed crank arms 18, bet een the wrists of which a connecting rod 19 is extended. The extremities of the shaft 16 are passed intermediately through a pair of parallel inclined bars 20, approximately parallel to the hoe handle 11. At their upper ends, the bars 20 respectively formed with lugs 21 projecting toward each other and respectively spaced above the centers of the bars 17. Through the lugs 21, there are passed colts 22, securing said lugs to the bars 17, a spring 23 being coiled upon each hot 22 between the correlated parts 21 and 17. The outer ends of the bars 20 are connected in a rigid relation by a bar 2 L, which is arched at its center as indicated it Within the arch 25, there is mounted he vertical upper portion of a peculiar nearing 26, having substantially the form of the letter J. A pin 27 parallel to the shaft 8 passes through the vertical members of the arch 25, and also through the upper end of the member 26, supporting said memler. A bar 28, secured to the underside of the member 2 1 closes the arch 25, and is apertured to receive the vertical portion of the member 26, said portion being held vertical by the parts 27 and 28 in conjunction. The lower end of the bearing 26 supports a stub axle 29, upon which is mounted a small bevel-rimmed transporting wheel 30. The arch 25 is formed with a plurality of apertures 30* to receive the pin :47, the members 2% and 25, thus belng made vertically adjustable relative to the transporting wheel supporting said members.

With the extremities of the shaft 16, there are respectively pivotally connected the outer ends of a pair of rods 31, which have a somewhat more pronounced upward inclination than the bars 17, passing at their middles above the right hand bar 6, and having connection adjacent to the tongue through a cross piece From the middle of the cross piece 32, an arm 33 projects 1ntegrally above the tongue, and is pivotally connected with a horizontal lever 35 pivoted at its front end upon a bracket 36 surmounting the tongue slightly forward of its rear end. The lever 35 extends in a substantially rearward direction, and is correlated with the usual means for holding it in various positions of angular adjust ment. A slot 37 is formed in the lever 35 to receive the pivot bolt connecting said lever with the arm 33, a certain necessary play of the bolt longitudinally of the lever thus being permitted when the arm and connecting parts are shifted transversely of the cotton chopper through angular displacement of the lever.

Upon the rear end portion of the shaft 8, there is splined a sliding member 38, which forms two integral oppositely pitched bevel pinions. These pinions are respectively adapted to engage two oppositely pitched bevel gears integrally formed upon a gear plate 39 mounted rigidly upon the axle 1. A substantially vertical lever 10 pivoted upon the right hand member 4 carries at its lower end a yoke a1, engaging the member 38, and serving to produce a sliding displacement of said member upon the correlated shaft when the lever is angularly adjusted. Through said lever, the member 38 may be shifted to either of two positions, in which the pinions formed upon said member will respectively mesh with the two gears formed upon the plate 39, or said sliding member may be adjusted to a neutral position in which no rotation will be communicated to the shaft 8 from the axle. With the lever 40 there is correlated the usual means for holding said lever adjusted in its several positions.

The various features entering into the construction of my cotton chopper having been above fully discussed, an explanation will now be given as to the operation of this device. My cotton chopper will travel parallel to the rows of cotton, and will be so guided that the blade 13 in making its stroke will cut across a row of the plants. It is apparent that the rotation which is communicated from the axle to the shaft 8 during the travel of my machine will subject the hoe handle 12 and the blade 13 to a peculiar oscillating motion whereby all points upon said members 12 and 13, will repeatedly pass through circular curves, moving toward the machine at the bottom of their stroke and from the machine in the upper portion of their motion. If the rotation of the crank-shaft 16 were actuated solely through the handle 12, there might be a tendency for the mecha-- nism to lock or to subject the lower end of the hoe to rotation in the wrong direction. These contingencies are safeguarded against by the provision of the additional crank arms 18 and the connecting rods 19 extending between said arms, there being formed an angle of substantially ninety degrees between the directions in which the arms 18 project from the correlated shafts and the handle. It is to be observed that the bars 17, together with the shaft 16 substantially constitute a swinging frame to support the cutting member. l/Vhen the lever 35 is shifted angular-1y, a tensile strain is trans--- mitted through the rods 31 whereby the lower end of the swinging frame may be adjusted vertically to vary the depth of the cut taken by the hoe blade. The lower end directions of the cranks receiving the hoe of the swinging frame will be supported by 3 a transporting wheel 30, which wheel owing to the resiliency of the connection established between the upper ends of the bars 20 and the bars 17 will not necessarily take part in every vertical adjustment COIH111l1I1l* f cated to the hoe and cutting blade.

It will of course be understood that the spacing of the hills into which a row is cut will depend upon the rapidity with which the cutting member is actuated. By provid ing a transmission mechanism such that the cutting member may be actuated at two different speeds, it is obvious that a considerable variation in the spacing of the hills formed in a row may thus be obtained. r

The invention is presented as including all such changes and modifications as properly come within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A cotton chopper comprising a wheeled frame, a crank shaft supported by said 'rame parallel to the direction of travel of the machine, a mechanism communicating rotation to the crank shaft from one of the transporting wheels, a supplementary swinging frame, extending laterally from the main frame at a downward inclination, and pivotally supported by the crank shaft at its upper end, a hoe mounted in the supplementary frame, having the upper end of its handle engaged by the wrist of a crank upon said shaft, and a transporting wheel supporting the outer end of the supplementary frame.

2. A cotton chopper comprising a wheeled frame, a supplementary swinging frame extending laterally from the main frame at a downward inclination. a hoe mounted in the supplementary frame, having its blade adj acent to the ground, atransmission mechanism actuated by one of the transporting wheels, and transmitting to said hoe a motion causing all. of its points to traverse circles, a pair of bars projecting outwardly and downwardly from the supplementary frame, and free to undergo a limited angular displacement about a horizontal axis passing through the supplementary frame, and a transporting wheel mounted at the outer ends of said bars.

3. A. cotton chopper comprising a wheeled frame, a crank shaft supported by the wheeled frame parallel to the direction of travel of the cotton chopper, a hoe extending laterally at a downward inclination from the main frame, having its upper end engaged by the wrist of a crank of said shaft, a crank having its wrist engaging the middle portion of the hoe handle, a shaft carrying the last specified crank, a pair of bars in which the last specified shaft is rotatably mounted at their lower ends, the upper ends of said bars being pivoted upon the first specified crank shaft, and a transporting wheel supporting the outer end of the swinging frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DECK B. FULTZ.

Witnesses:

BEN CARROLL, JIM CARROLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. Q. 

